We're all familiar with the fact that Apple has trouble managing its App Store. While it is overflowing with applications, Apple governs it willy-nilly, and the web is rife with stories from developers who had their application rejected for no apparent reason. There's now a new issue we can add to the list. Are you an iPhone developer? Do you want a similar, competing application out of the App Store? All you need to do is send an infringement claim to Apple, and they'll happily threaten to remove the competing application without a second thought. Update: And here's a similar case, about Stoneloops! vs. Luxor.

" That would be the reason that there are now over 100,000 apps for the iPhone - ten times as many as any other phone platform.

Is there some sort of mailing list that sends those Mac fanboy talking-points? Or are you just repeatedly copy-pasting that "OMG 100,000 apps" bit because you have real argument? "

I think if someone says "Apple does everything in their power to piss off people who develop software for the iPhone" its worth reminding them that currently the iPhone has the largest library of apps created by independent developers of any phone platform - heck they have more apps than all other phone platforms put together. This indicates to me that the iPhone platform is very attractive to developers which means Apple isn't doing too much that is wrong in that area.

This indicates to me that the iPhone platform is very attractive to developers which means Apple isn't doing too much that is wrong in that area.

No... all it means is that developers haven't YET found a sufficiently compelling alternative to jump-ship to.

Even two years ago, the best that any objective user could say about the iPhone was that it sucked less than the existing alternatives (discarding all of the insane superlatives from fanbois who cream their shorts over any new Apple product).

Today, though? Apple has rested on the laurels of a product that was already barely-capable of competing 2 years ago. In 2009, the iPhone is the new smartphone "crap standard" - the device that most new hardware aspires to "suck less" than.